USA stocks rally into close, end higher

USA stocks traded higher in the morning session on Monday after heavy losses on Friday, as the market is trying to rebound in a shortened trading week.

Stocks started the day strong, but weakened in midday trading Monday, hurt by continued selling in junk bonds and oil, as crude reached its lowest level since 2004. The S&P 500 ended 0.8% higher and the Dow Jones Industrial Average leapt about 123 points.

The Dow is down 571.45 points, or 3.2 percent. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gave up 1.75 points to 4,561. 25.

The Nasdaq is up 232.87 points, or 4.9 per cent. Crude oil was down 39 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $35.67 a barrel.

Investors are still working through the market effect of the Federal Reserve’s decision Wednesday to raise interest rates for the first time in almost a decade.

Energy stocks struggled as a result, making it the worst-performing sector in the S&P 500.

But stocks often recover somewhat after sharp sell-offs, so Monday’s buying is partly a recovery from last week’s drop. ConocoPhillips fell 83 cents, or 2 percent, to $45.10.

The most active gold contract for February delivery rose 15.6 dollars, or 1.46 percent, to settle at 1,080.60 dollars per ounce.

The annual phase of window dressing and short-covering, occurring amid dwindling pre-holiday trading volumes, typically puts a shine on the year-end; though with 367 point fall on the Dow Jones last Friday it appears the market’s been naughty not nice. Heading into the week, the broad USA market was down around 2.6% in 2015.

With the trading week curtailed in much of the world because of Christmas, moves in the market can be more pronounced than usual.

CODE BREAK: Juniper Networks fell $1.53, or 5 percent, to $27.15 after the company disclosed that it had found “unauthorized code” in the operating systems of some of its products that could allow hackers to bypass a company’s security.

“Today’s calendar is relatively light, and with liquidity getting thinner over the course of the week, the potential for exaggerated moves is very real”, said Chris Beauchamp, senior market analyst at IG. In currencies market, the euro slightly increased to against the dollar at $1.0896.